How Do I...?

Services

Looking for an easy way to manage your projects? Trello is a free collaboration tool that allows you to organize your projects and tasks. Each item is a card which can be opened up to add further comments, a checklist, labels, and attachments. If you create an organization (like for your family), you can assign tasks to individuals who are all part of that organizational group. Once tasks are completed, they can be archived. Trello works best for small groups.

On Thursday, February 9 at 6:30 p.m. we hosted our very first Appy Hour where we brought you the latest and greatest apps to help you stay organized, kill time on the train, find the perfect recipe, or tuck the kids in at night. Stay tuned for future themed appy hours!

The Library has recently expanded its offering of large-print books, thanks to the Anne R. Ferguson Large Print Book Fund, a generous endowment given to the capital fund by Eric Ferguson.

With the help of this gift, the number of volumes in the large-print collection has more than tripled.

"Patrons saw the difference almost immediately," said Sally Ijams, head of Knowledge & Learning Services at the Library.

"We went at it with the intent of adding depth to the collection. Before we had some good titles, but not everything by a long shot," Ijams said. "And this also allowed us to replace worn copies of popular books, like our Agatha Christies, which are perennially popular."

"The books have also been moved to more accessible shelving on the second floor, instead of on the lower shelving in the non-fiction area," said Darien Library Chief Administrative Officer Alan Gray. In addition, the newest parts of the collection have been put on display on Main Street, making the large-print titles more accessible to everyone, Gray said.

The gift was an important one for the Library and patrons, said Library Director Louise Berry.

"Large-print titles are so expensive to purchase that a lot of people don't buy them on their own, and therefore users of that collection rely even more heavily on access to a library collection," Berry said. "And because Mr. Ferguson's gift was made as an endowment, it will continue to benefit our users who need that format forever."

All equipment checkouts are limited to Darien residents, those who work in Darien, and non-resident Friends to the Library at the $300 level. Please contact the Help Desk at 203-669-5238 if you have questions.

Drawing Tablets

Library Use only

Two drawing tablets are available for use in the Library: a Wacom CTE-630 and an Aiptek HP 12000U. The tablets can be connected to the computers via USB.

eBook eReaders

21 day checkout

The Library has serveral types of ebook readers available for checkout: Nook, Nook Color, Touchscreen Nook, and Sony Reader Daily Edition. Each eReader comes in a tote bag with: a USB cable, a power plug, a case, and a Quick Start Guide. Those eReaders are demonstrative only, so you cannot choose your own eBooks to add to them. If you would like to choose your own eBooks, ask to borrow a 3M eReader from the Welcome Desk to access the 3M Cloud Library eBooks.

GPS Devices

14 day checkout

The Library has two TomTom One XL S GPS devices. The units come with a USB cable, a car charger, and a Quick Start Guide. Also included with the device is a Nav-Mat, a padded dashboard mount, which will keep the unit safe and steady inside a moving vehicle.

iPad

7 day checkout

The iPad comes with a USB cable, power plug, black leather case, iPad dock, and a tote bag.

Kill-a-Watt Meters

14 day checkout

The Kill-a-Watt Meters measure the energy consumption of electrical appliances. The meters circulate in a protective carry case, along with detailed instructions for their use, with or without a power strip. The meters measure energy consumption in volts, amps, watts, Hz, or kWh.

LCD Projector

4 day checkout

The Library has an Infocus IN1112 Projector available for use by local non-profit organizations. The projector is designed for use with a PC-compatible laptop and comes with a VGA cable, power cord, and remote control. Mac users must supply an appropriate dongle that works with their computer.

"Great good places" are defined as third places; in contrast to home (first places) and work (second places), third places are the heart of the community -- a neutral place where people gather and interact. In his book, The Great Good Place, author Ray Oldenburg explores the essential roles served by the third place and its impact on the social vitality of the community.

Heart of the Community. Gather. Essential. Social vitality. These are all words that happen to describe Darien Library, don't you think? Manny Perez, documentary filmmaker must have thought so, too. After months and months of filming at Darien Library... and getting to know us... and our members... and all we strive to achieve, this documentary director/photographer/editor/producer aptly named his documentary film about us, "Darien Library: The Great Good Place."

During the months and months of filming, we also got to know Manny Perez -- a talented, tireless, devoted, and creative filmmaker and man of integrity. We are so proud to have had the opportunity to work with him. We are also proud to premiere the documentary to the public today and say "Greetings from The Great Good Place."

Note: Bold type indicates that the website is hosted by the Darien Library.

If you belong to a Darien nonprofit community organization and would like to have your organization's website hosted by the Darien Library or listed here, you are invited to contact Darien Community Information Network, c/o Darien Library, 1441 Post Road, Darien, CT 06820, 203-655-1234, Email: webmaster@darienlibrary.org

Job #1 for the Darien Library is providing excellent customer service to all of its patrons. Now, thanks to a generous contribution from The Darien Lions Club, we are able to extend a helping hand to those among our patrons who are vision-impaired. Located on the Library's second floor within easy reach from the elevator, our new Enhanced-Vision Workstation is well-equipped to meet a wide range of visual impairments.

The workstation consists of a Dell Optiplex 760 computer, a 24-inch monitor, a Topaz magnifier with hand and foot controls, stereo speakers, and a portable scanner. The Topaz magnifier allows the user to enlarge printed material for easy reading on the attached monitor. The Dell computer has a variety of specialized software installed, including ZoomText, which allows the user to magnify and/or highlight the information displayed on the monitor, and OpenBook, which can be used to scan and to read aloud printed material. Vision-impaired individuals can browse the Internet, check the Library's catalog and web site, read a book, watch movies, and more. The portable scanner provides access to more personal printed materials, such as bills and letters, all of which can be scanned in and magnified or read aloud. Headphones are provided for privacy.

If you or someone you know is vision-impaired and would like to use this special equipment, please call the Help Desk at 203-669-5238.

John Blyberg, Assistant Director – Innovation and UX (User Experience) here at Darien Library, is the 2009 recipient of the LITA/Brett Butler Entrepreneurship Award for his development of the Social OPAC application suite. The LITA/Brett Butler Entrepreneurship Award, established in 2004, is given to recognize exemplary entrepreneurship by providing an innovative product or service designed to meet the needs of the library world through the skillful and practical application of information technology. Social OPAC (http://thesocialopac.net), also known as SOPAC (for Social Online Public Access Catalog), is a suite of open source software (OSS) tools that brings the power of social computing and Web 2.0 to library catalogs.

John planned and designed the Darien Library’s new website, which launched in September 2008. The new design and software he created has integrated our website with its online catalog to improve the experience for users and to allow them to participate in the social aspects of the catalog by tagging, writing reviews, and managing their own accounts.

“SOPAC 2.0 was created in response to requests from other libraries for a package that would easily enable them to implement social computing functions in their [catalogs],” John said when notified that he’d won the award. “I’m honored to have been selected for this award, and to have been of service to the library community.”

“We are very proud of John for this achievement,” Library Director Louise Berry said. “He has made a really significant contribution to the library world.”

The award will be presented at the LITA President’s Program in July at the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago, IL. LITA (Library and Information Technology Association) is a division of the American Library Association.

Darien Library received a signal honor this month when named a Five Star library by Library Journal, which used four objective measures (visits, circulation, program attendance and internet computer use per capita) to compare the level of services libraries provide to their communities.

Darien Library was ranked third among the 1,126 public libraries with budgets between $1 million and $5 million, becoming one of ten Five Star Libraries in this category, and one of 85 Five Star libraries in the country, among more than 7,000 libraries in the study.

The Library Journal Five Star award, together with the HAPLR Top Ten rating, which Darien has received for the past eight years, mark Darien Library as one of the highest performing libraries in the country. Darien Library also received the CT State Library/CT Library Association Award for Excellence in 2003.

Library Director Louise Berry said, “The Library Journal Five Star award in a sense recognizes the quality of the staff, collection and programs here at Darien Library, and, because it is based on how actively the Library is used, is a direct measure of the community’s support for the Library. We’re all very pleased to have received this recognition.”